Jason Snell: By the Way, Alexa, You’ve Been Replaced

That all said, once it was up and running, it’s been a breath of fresh air. The Nest Hub’s touchscreen interface is a bit laggy, but I basically never have to touch the screen. It displays multiple named timers nicely. There’s even some whimsy that Amazon never managed to find: When you set a chicken timer, it displays a chicken and clucks! When you set a pasta timer, you may end up hearing a brief blurt of stereotypical Italian music.

Like Jason, I have definite complaints about the Nest Hub UI, but I think it speaks volumes that I still have two of these in my house and I could not imagine using a HomePod or an iPad in their place.

Unless and until Apple comes through with a product in this category—there are rumors that it might be considering it—the Nest Hub seems like it’s going to be a kitchen mainstay in my house.

There are rumors we’re about a year away from an Apple version, and I’ll have my eyes out for that if it materializes, but my Home Hubs aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I love them.